Graham defends Kavanaugh’s testimony: ‘He was hit by a truck’

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday defended Brett Kavanaugh’s combative testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, which opponents of the federal judge have deemed unduly partisan and not befitting a Supreme Court justice.

“The temperament I saw was a man who was innocent — who was rightly offended by being destroyed for a political purpose,” Graham said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that Kavanaugh “was hit by a truck” after several women emerged over the past month to accuse him of various episodes of sexual misconduct.

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“This is not going to be the future of the nomination process in the committee, where you accuse a guy of being a gang rapist, an alcoholic, bumbling, stumbling sexual predator, and you get upset when he forcefully fights back against liberal smears,” the South Carolina Republican told host George Stephanopoulos.

“This will not be the new standard of temperament,” Graham said.

Appearing before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday — shortly after lawmakers heard harrowing testimony from Kavanaugh’s first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford — an emotional Kavanaugh roared at the panel’s Democrats for perpetrating what he called a “coordinated and well-funded effort” to destroy his family and reputation.

“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups,” the Supreme Court nominee said.

Graham has emerged as perhaps Kavanaugh’s fiercest congressional defender in the past week, rallying fellow Republicans on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday with an explosive defense of President Donald Trump’s embattled pick.

“What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020,” Graham told the committee’s Democrats.

“God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends, but let me tell you, when it comes to this, you’re looking for a fair process?” he added, turning to Kavanaugh. “You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend.”

Still, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sided with the panel’s Democrats on Friday in advancing Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor for a full vote by the chamber, on the condition that the FBI would spend one week investigating Ford’s claim of sexual assault. The White House complied, with Trump ordering the bureau to reopen Kavanaugh’s background check.

Ford claims that Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her at a house party in Maryland more than 30 years ago, when both of them were in high school. Graham expects federal agents will exonerate Kavanaugh, saying Sunday: “Six FBI background checks over the years would have uncovered this.”

Graham also announced his intention to call for a separate probe into Democrats’ handling of Ford’s allegations and their maneuvers during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings process — including whether Democrats leaked a confidential letter detailing Ford’s account or recommended that Ford take on civil rights lawyer and Trump critic Debra Katz as her attorney.

“We’re going to do a wholesale, full-scale investigation of what I think was a despicable process to deter it from happening again,” Graham said.

Graham’s request for a new investigation echoes a similar line of attack the president leveled against Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, at a rally in West Virginia on Saturday. Republicans have criticized the California lawmaker for supposedly withholding Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh for months in order to maximize their political effect on his confirmation fight.

But journalist Ryan Grim, who first reported on Ford’s letter to lawmakers, has stated on Twitter that Feinstein’s staff did not leak the letter or news of its existence to The Intercept, Grim’s publication. Graham said Sunday that he accepts Feinstein’s denial but does not necessarily believe her staff is innocent.

“Remember her answer, ‘Did you leak the document?’” Trump said Saturday, before going on to pantomime Feinstein’s response to the accusation and comment on her “really bad body language.”

The president had more harsh words for Democrats in West Virginia, lamenting “the meanness” and “the anger” he said they employed in the hope of quashing Kavanaugh’s nomination.

“The entire nation has witnessed the shameless conduct of the Democrat Party. They’re willing to throw away every standard of decency, justice, fairness and due process to get their way," Trump said.

The FBI’s investigation appears to be broadening beyond just Ford’s accusations. Deborah Ramirez, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during their time at Yale University in the 1980s, confirmed Saturday through her attorney that she is cooperating with the FBI in its probe of the Supreme Court nominee. NBC News, citing unnamed sources, reported this weekend that the White House is limiting the scope of the FBI’s inquiry — a charge Trump moved to rebut in a tweet late Saturday evening.

But barring a major revelation, Graham said Sunday that he plans to vote in favor of Kavanaugh on the Senate floor when the FBI wraps up its one-week probe.

“His life was ruined here. I'm going to vote for him unless some bombshell comes out that I don't know about,” Graham said. “I'm going to look into the process that led to this debacle to the effort to destroy this good man.”